Americans See Big Government as a Threat in Record Numbers

By Philip Bump

December 18, 2013

A new poll from Gallup indicates that 72 percent of Americans — including, for the first time under a Democratic president, a majority of Democrats — see the government as the biggest threat to the future of the country.

The split, including the change since President Obama took office, is remarkable. That 72 percent figure is higher than at any point since Gallup first started asking the question in 1965. "Big government" is seen as three-and-a-half times as big a threat as "big business" and 14 times the threat of "big labor."

The figure for labor, 5 percent, is a record low. The high for business was in 2002, which, Gallup notes, was "after a series of corporate scandals rocked major corporations including Enron and Tyco."